


5 times Emerald saved Mercury and 1 time Mercury saved Emerald

by Failing_Physics



Category: RWBY
Genre: 5 + 1 times, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, this is just gonna be a short series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22378714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Failing_Physics/pseuds/Failing_Physics
Summary: Mercury gets a little tied up and Emerald has to step in
Relationships: Mercury Black/Emerald Sustrai
Comments: 32
Kudos: 62





	1. The first time Emerald saved Mercury

**Author's Note:**

> First time I've tried writing something like this, so I hope you enjoy!

“Mercury? What the hell are you doing up there?”   
Mercury huffed, staring down at Emerald’s eyes from where he was hanging from a net suspended on the ceiling. 

“Oh, uh, hey Em,” He said, trying for a smile that, by Emerald’s flat look, wasn’t doing him any favors. Mercury had known that his missing ammo was in Tyrian’s room for about a week, but what he had not expected was a truly impressive number of booby-traps that had been strung up in the doorway. Mercury had dodged the knife that had fallen from the ceiling, the bullets that had appeared from guns in the walls, and the subsequent lasers, but had finally been caught by the iron net that had dropped down onto him. And, to make matters worse, the woven metal had caught on his leg and the prosthetic now lay on the ground below him. Mercury had just come to the conclusion that god hated him when Emerald walked past. 

“I don’t suppose you’d get me down…?”

Emerald expression grew amused and she leaned against the doorway, picking at her nails with a dagger. 

“What’s this? Mercury, admitting to needing help?”

Mercury glanced towards the corridor, every nerve straining for signs of Tyrian staking towards them. 

“Come on Em, you know what Tyrian will do if he finds me here.” 

Emerald met his eyes, posture suddenly stiffening as if to agree that yes, she knew exactly what Tyrian would do if he found Mercury and that it would probably involve a lot of blood. 

“Fine I’ll get you down, you absolute idiot.”   
Mercury battered his eyelids, “My hero.” 

“Oh shut up.” Emerald began sawing away at the thick strands of iron making up the net with her bladed guns, and, one by one, the strands snapped.

“You owe me a new whetstone,” she muttered, “This is gonna make my blades dull.” 

Mercury had just opened his mouth to reply with an equally snarky comment, before the net holding him vanished and a feeling of weightlessness struck him a split second before he hit the ground, his missing leg preventing him from landing smoothly. The air was thoroughly knocked out of him and his eyes swam with tears. He blinked them back, sucking in air in the least dignified manner possible before glancing up at Emerald who had a wry smile on her lips and was holding out his leg. Mercury grabbed the offered prosthetic, snapping it back onto him and hauling himself upright.    
“Why thank you my lady.” Mercury bowed low, Emerald just rolling her bright eyes at him.    
“God, you’re so stupid,” she turned away, but not before she could hide the small smile on her lips. 


	2. The second time Emerald saves Mercury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercury tends to make a habit of antagonizing people and it was inevitable that eventually he would anger the wrong person - but when that happens, only Emerald is around to get him out of it.

“I know you.”

“Okay, okay,  _ okay _ , hold  _ up _ .” Mercury backed up against the wall, wincing as the brickwork ground up against his back; a stark reminder that he was trapped. But this was not the first time Mercury had been cornered and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.    
“I know you,” The man repeated, taking another step forward, his tawny eyes flicking over Mercury as he subtly shifted his coat aside to reveal the bulky shape of a dagger poking out of his waistband. Mercury stifled a groan, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. Any other day, any other hour, he could take this guy down as easy as breathing, but  _ no _ , they were meant to be keeping a  _ low profile _ . Gritting his teeth, he stared back up at the man’s unpleasant smile, eyes narrowed and face tight.  _ Where the hell was Emerald when you needed her _ ?!    
“Aaaand what would make you say that?” He asked, trying with minimal effort to keep the insolent edge from entering his voice. 

“Because,” the man growled, “You look like the little shit who’s street-rat friend stole my wallet last week.”

“That’s interesting, because  _ you _ look like the little shit that me and my  _ street-rat friend _ beat into the dust last week before we stole his wallet.” 

By the way the man’s sunburnt face seemed to constrict, that was evidently the wrong thing to say.

“I’ll make you regret that, you prick”

“I’ll invite you to try. I’m in the mood for another ass-kicking today.” Though the words passed Mercury’s lips almost automatically, in his head he was chanting  _ don’t start a fight, don’t start a fight, don’t start a fight -  _ The man took another step towards him, the space between them rapidly diminishing, as an ugly snarl contorted his features. His hand drifted towards the wickedly sharp dagger at his side, and Mercury tensed, arms instinctively moving to a defensive position.  _ Don’t start a fight, don’t start a fight, don’t -  _

Mercury dragged his grey eyes up with excruciating slowness to meet the man’s. A smart fighter doesn’t watch his opponent’s hands, he watches his opponent’s eyes; that was the first thing he’d been taught and the advice held strong as his own enemy’s eyes flicked up distractedly to the alleyway behind him. 

“Hey,” he yelled, and the sudden explosion of noise made Mercury wince slightly, “You! Get back here you little -!” 

Mercury snapped his eyes up, and they widened slightly at the seemingly empty air that the man was screaming at. He abruptly tore himself away from Mercury, drawing his dagger and slashing it jaggedly towards the empty space, shouting more obscenities. Amusement began creeping into the edges of Mercury’s mind as the man took off at a sprint, rounding a corner and out of sight as he chased the invisible spirit. 

A hand slammed down on Mercury’s shoulder and he jumped, spinning around with fists raised before spotting Emerald. He shook his head.    
“You’re late.”

“And you’re an idiot.”   
“Point taken - I’m guessing that was your handiwork?” He gestured towards where the man’s far off shrieks could still be heard. Emerald grinned. 

“Yup. He just saw me waving his wallet in his face and taunting him. I guess that was quite a shock.” They shared as brief smile. “Well, unless you feel the need to antagonise any more of the general public, shall we go?” 

“Lead the way my lady.”

“Oh shut up.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!


	3. The third time Emerald saves Mercury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercury gets arrested and, as always, Emerald is around to break him out

“UGH!” Mercury slammed his hands against the cold metal wall of his cell, his frustration only building as his palms bounced off with an audible  _ clang _ . 

“Let me  _ out of here _ !” He yelled at the security camera in the corner of the room. As expected, there was no answer and an almost irresistible urge to smash it came over him. Mercury shook his head slightly and turned away before lowering himself onto the floor. No, if he broke the camera then that’d just be another offence added to the already insanely long list of his crimes. Even now, even after the arrest, Mercury still had no idea how the police had tracked him down. He supposed that it was only a matter of time until he was arrested with the amount of people he’d pissed off over the years, and Mercury could only suppose that it was one of those one of those many,  _ many,  _ people that had tripped the authorities off. And he was going to kill whoever it was, but Mercury had bigger concerns right now. Like how the hell he was going to get out of here. He could only hope that Emerald was nearby and could think of a way to save him, even though he knew that he’d never live it down if she had to help him yet again. 

He sighed deeply once again and closed his eyes, leaning back and letting the cold metal wall press against his back. There was nothing to do but wait.

\---------------

_ BANG! _

Mercury started awake, head smacking against the wall behind him and for a moment he stared around, utterly confused.

_ BANG!  _

This time he jumped up, eyes flickering around the space for the source of the noise. Several smaller thuds followed and Mercury settled into a familiar fighting stance, facing the door with a tense expression as it was thrown open. He sprung into action, launching a kick at the head of the figure in the doorway. It was expertly blocked and he was thrown back as he withdrew for the next attack - before he paused at the sight of a slightly haggard Emerald, flushed and breathing hard, with weapons in hands and a hard expression. 

“The hell are you doing here?!”

Her face eased somewhat. “Well hello to you too.”

“How-”

“I, uh, persuaded them to let you go.”

Mercury raised an eyebrow. Emerald raised one right back.

“They look a lot of persuading. Come on, get your ass out of here before they come back.” 

She disappeared round the doorway and Mercury smirked, shook his head, and followed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments always make my day! <3


	4. The fourth time Emerald saves Mercury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the first time Mercury has gotten seriously injured and he only knows one place to go 
> 
> Tw: blood (nothing graphic but if you don’t like mentions of it maybe skip this chapter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, the response on this fanfic has been great, thank you guys so much! <3

Mercury staggered up the final flight of stairs, breathing in ragged gasps and clutching his side where a rapidly growing red stain had soaked through the wad of fabric he had pressed there.

“Shit, shit,  _ shit _ .”

There was so much blood. Too much for what was only meant to be a shallow flesh wound. 

_ Do not ever go after a lion faunus again, you utter idiot.  _ Mercury thought, mentally kicking himself as he dragged himself through the decrepit corridor. His eyesight started to blur slightly, breathing becoming shallow and head spinning. 

_ Not good, not good, not good. _ Blackness was just starting to edge into the corners of his vision and Mercury finally stopped and threw himself onto a bright green door that he  _ prayed  _ was the right one. He raised a trembling hand to knock just as it was thrown open. 

Catching himself on the doorway before he could fall to the floor, Mercury managed to weak smile at Emerald’s incredulous expression, her eyes the only point of colour in a world swiftly fading to grey.

“Mercury?” 

Shifting his hand away from his side, Mercury heard blood patter to the floor as he sucked in a sharp intake of breath at the sudden pain. 

“The fuck-”

“Hey Em,” Mercury’s is tongue felt thick in his mouth and he could tell that his speech was slurring badly, “I’m going to pass out in, let’s say, 5, 4, 3, 2-”

The world was lost in a haze of red. 

_______________

“- stupid, so _gods-damned_ _stupid_ Mercury Black - I swear, next time I’ll let you bleed out and die on my doorstep -”

Mercury groaned and shifted, wincing at the noise.

“ _ No, don’t fucking move  _ \- if you pull those stitches, I’m not re-doing them.”

Mercury opened his eyes, frowning and hissing at the bright light above him. Blinking rapidly, it came to his attention that his whole body was on fire, every movement sending spikes of pain through him.

“Ugh.”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you lose a couple pints of blood that fast -  _ no,  _ lie  _ down _ \- how the hell did you manage to do that to yourself?”

“Lion faunus,” he managed to grunt, raising his head to look around and feeling a wave of dizziness push him back down. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Emerald shake her head slightly. 

“Right then, thanks, but I’ll be going - OH GOD.” Mercury collapsed back onto the sofa, the band of iron pain clamped around his ribs stopping him from going anywhere. 

“ _ Watch the bloody stitches - _ yeah, no, you’re staying here until you can at least walk.” 

“Your bedside manner leaves something to be desired, anyone ever tell you that?”

“Shut up and go to sleep before I knock you out myself.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

“Ah, Emerald…”

Emerald turned back around just as exhaustion hit Mercury like a physical slap. 

“Uh, thank you. I probably would be dead right now if you hadn’t saved my sorry ass.”

Emerald opened her mouth as if to give a snarky comment in return, but seemed to reconsider and just said:

“Don’t mention it.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos make my day!


	5. The fifth time Emerald saves Mercury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercury really just needs to learn how to use a map

Mercury glared at the rough stone walls that surrounded him and made up the mess of tunnels he was currently trudging through.  _ No self respecting villain should need a map and a detailed list of directions to find their hideout.  _ Or at least that’s what he had snapped before he had entered the labyrinth that was the route to the new base.  _ Supposedly _ . All he knew was that it was dark, cold, and somewhere in the background the incessant dripping of water could be heard - but no hideout. Mercury knew he’d been walking in circles for the better part of an hour but it’d gotten to the point where even if he wanted to give up and turn round, he wouldn’t be able to find the exit. 

Kicking another pebble into the darkness cast by his touch, Mercury rounded another corner - to find that it was a dead end. 

“Goddamn it!” 

Gritting his teeth, Mercury turned around to see red eyes glinting from the darkness. He froze, even the air stilling in his lungs as he stared hard at the two crimson specks.  _ Shit.  _ Who knows what kind of Grimm would be prowling through the darkness? 

“Right.” Mercury muttered, setting down the torch and settling into a fighting stance, “I guess we’re doing this then.” 

He tensed forward and the Grimm exploded from the inky blackness. Mercury had the chance to take in elongated limbs and jagged fangs before it was upon him. He ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding talons that grasped for him and landed a powerful kick on the creature’s skull, sending it flinching away. Mercury started forward, launching himself into the air, but before he could land his next blow he was swatted to the ground, landing with bone-crushing force. Sucking in a ragged gasp, Mercury was on his feet in a flash, narrowing his eyes at the Grimm just as it gave a reverberating scream. 

The earth-shattering shriek was enough to send Mercury reeling backwards, ears ringing as his back wedged against the ragged tunnel walls. The world faded in and out for a few seconds and Mercury was aware of the Grimm stalking closer, satisfied that he was suitably incapacitated. Mercury blinked lethargically, grappling with his consciousness as his surroundings swam back into focus. 

The Grimm was mere inches away now, and Mercury was granted a glance at yellow fangs. He lashed out, panic lending him strength, and the edge of his foot landing square on the creature’s muzzle, his fist landing barely seconds afterwards with a series of complex attacks. But he was still disorientated and the strikes were sloppy. He staggered backwards as the open jaw snapped towards his face and Mercury earnt a jagged gash on the forearm he used to block the attack. 

Mercury was well aware that he was swiftly tiring, he would be able to keep up this level of combat for much longer. The Grimm lifted it’s head to give that stomach-wrenching scream once again and Mercury grimaced, bracing for the impact - that never came. 

Instead, the  _ ratatatatatat  _ of gunfire reached his ears and the creature flinched, roaring and lumbering towards this new threat. 

Emerald was standing at the end of the tunnel, eyes narrowed and firing with fierce concentration. The bullets caught the soft underbelly as it reared up and Mercury took his opportunity and landed one final blow on it’s leg, knocking the Grimm to the ground and throwing an elbow into its exposed throat. The Grmm went motionless, and there was a tense second before it melted to black specks and floated away on an invisible wind. 

There was a silence, both parties recovering their breath and taking in the deafening silence left in its wake. 

“Well,” Emerald broke the silence, “the moral of this story is next time take a bloody map with you.”   
Mercury steadied his heart and flashed a smirk at her. 

“My savior.”

“Hmm, what would you do without me?” 

“Well, you would have the pleasure of looking upon my beautiful face anymore.” 

Emerald rolled her eyes, throwing him a piece of paper that Mercury deftly snatched out of the air. “It’s a map. Just… use it will you.”

Mercury’s smirk slipped into a smile as he watched Emerald move away into the darkness. He sighed and scooped up his own torch, following. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always make my day! <3


	6. The time Mercury saved Emerald

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emerald is no stranger to nightmares and so when she has the next one, Mercury is around to help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally finished this series! Thank you so much for everyone who has read, commented, and left kudos on this fanfic! You've all been amazing so thank you! <3

Mercury jerked awake, heart pounding in his chest and every nerve straining into awareness for what had woken him. He blew out a breath, relaxing as all that greeted him was silence and perfect darkness. Mercury shook his head, dismissing his worries -

Before a scream pierced the silence - shattering it like thin ice. He was up and out of bed before he could take his next breath, staring around his room and fumbling for the light switch. 

His surroundings came into view in a blaze of light and color as he clicked it on, blinking rapidly to let his eyes adjust to the apartment. The shriek came again and this time Mercury was able to pinpoint the noise - the room next door. Mercury’s blood froze and dread began to claw its way through his veins.  _ Emerald. _ Mercury yanked open the door and was round the corner in a flash, slamming his shoulder into Emerald’s door when he found it locked. The flimsy wood splintered and creaked, Mercury practically falling into the room as it gave way. He took up a fighting stance, expecting an intruder or worse - but... there was nothing. After a few more seconds of deafening silence, and a muffled sob jerked him out of his trance. 

“Emerald…?” Mercury turned towards the bed in the corner just as Emerald started writhing, tangled in the bed sheets and giving out small whimpers. 

“Em! Christ sake, _ wake up _ !” He reached over and shook her shoulder, but it seemingly achieved nothing. Worry edged into his mind as he leaned over the sleeping figure and only hesitated for a second before slapping her face. 

“ _ Emerald! _ ” Mercury’s voice was more urgent this time and as if the sound of it had shocked her, Emerald woke, surging upwards with wide eyes. She grabbed Mercury’s arm with white-knuckled fingers, so hard that Mercury was sure he’d have bruises, but didn’t push her away. Emerald stayed clutching him, breath ragged, and unsure of what else to do, Mercury just held her, feeling Emerald’s rapid heartbeat slow somewhat as the minutes went on. 

Bit by bit, her breathing eased and eventually she shook herself slightly and pulled away, as if coming out of a daze.

“Hey, uh, you good?” Mercury asked, immediately feeling foolish - it was clear that Emerald was anything but good. 

“I… yeah. It’s just nightmares, you know?” 

Mercury nodded. As an unspoken rule, he didn’t ask about Emerald’s past, nor she about his, but Mercury also knew all too well about nightmares from back then, and met her eyes with silent understanding. 

“Thanks,” she murmured, so quietly he almost didn’t hear it, before muttering: 

“Oh what the hell.” 

“Wha-” Mercury’s question was cut off as Emerald leaned in and pressed a kiss against his lips. He melted into her, cupping her face and returning it with equal force and urgency. 

Mercury lost track of the time - it could’ve been a couple of minutes or a couple of hours that went by in the darkness, before Emerald drew away and hit him with her pillow, smoothing back her hair with a flushed face and an expression that was practically glowing. 

“Right, get out of my room Mercury Black. People will start to talk and if Tyrian makes  _ one more  _ comment as it is, I  _ actually  _ think I will kill him.” 

Mercury pulled a face. “You know what, that’s completely fair.”

He stood, hand automatically running over his arms where her fingernails had left indents, and left the room, for the first time in his life barely fighting off a grin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos make may day! <3


End file.
